Former CIA Chief: We are Losing War on Terror

This Harper interview is done with someone who knows of what he speaks:

"Michael Scheuer served in the CIA for 22 years before resigning in 2004; he served as the chief of the bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center from 1996 to 1999."

Question: Since 9-11 "Is the country safer or more vulnerable to terrorism?"

"On balance, more vulnerable....In the long run, we're not safer because we're still operating on the assumption that we're hated because of our freedoms, when in fact we're hated because of our actions in the Islamic world."

Question: "Has the war in Iraq helped or hurt in the fight against terrorism?":

"It broke the back of our counterterrorism program. Iraq was the perfect execution of a war that demanded jihad to oppose it."

What the Lebanon War:

"The Israel-Hezbollah battle validates bin Laden. It showed that the Arab regimes are useless, that they can't protect their own nationals, and that they are apostate regimes that are creatures of the infidels."

The truth:

"We need to acknowledge that we are at war, not because of who we are, but because of what we do. We are confronting a jihad that is inspired by the tangible and visible impact of our policies....At the core of the debate is oil. As long as we and our allies are dependent on Gulf oil, we can't do anything about the perception that we support Arab tyranny—the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, and other regimes in the region."